The Story Goes Like This
by Dukes126plus
Summary: “Y-You see, the story goes like this, uh…” From The Ghost of General Lee.


_The Ghost of General Lee_. As if that one isn't its own little slash story. There was nothing I could do to top the episode, but I sure had fun trying.

* * *

After everything – bamboozling Rosco with Luke's Enos imitation, racing off through back roads and bushes, skinny dipping, then losing both the General and their clothes, nearly getting various vulnerable parts bitten off by a dog, Becky Mae's questionable perception of their manliness, her mother's selective vision, the shotgun that sounds like a cannon in their ears, the wake, Jesse's fury, and learning that they're wanted men – after all they've seen and felt today, it's Luke's ring finger brushing against Bo's chest that does it.

Tiny thing, accidental. Luke's leaning on his shoulder, letting Jesse spew the fearsome bile of his anger at them. It's a position they've stood in hundreds of times before, waiting for the strap. But that little graze, the spot of warmth, the tickle and tingle of it, is the thing that pushes him over the edge.

It's always been him and Luke, even when it wasn't. Anything he ever did on his own was because of Luke, for Luke, about Luke. Girls, even, are about Luke. Who is attracted to which one of them, whether they can steal one out from under the nose of another, or can they share without coming to blows. Tallies, if they had started keeping them from the beginning, will always favor Luke, he's sure. The sex will, anyway. When it comes to winks, smiles, roaming fingers, and chin drool, Bo probably gets more of all of those. But they don't matter. The only important thing, ever, has been keeping up with Luke, being worthy of staying by his cousin's side.

Why he needs to be so close to Luke has never been a question in his own mind, nor has the fact that his love for Luke is both emotional and physical. That he's never even kissed his cousin is a marvel – one he spends more and more time wondering about lately. That finger on his chest (Luke's pinky also makes casual contact) is the last—

Daisy's scream brings them all back to reality. He and Luke are dead and need to stay that way for awhile longer, so they get sent to the storage closet to hide.

The door's barely closed and Luke's stripping off clothes again. It's nice how there's a window in here, throwing diffused light all over Luke's tanned body, but it's a shame how scarecrow pants are getting traded in for blue jeans. Now or never.

His hands take hold of denim, under the guise of helping Luke get dressed. If his hands touch sun warmed skin, it's strictly in the process of moving things along. He gets a raised eyebrow from Luke, but they have to stay dead, so his cousin can't talk. After all, they can hear the whole town out there gathering around Daisy.

He's tangled in buttoning and zipping Luke's jeans when his cousin seems to see the light about how helping each other dress will expedite the process, and starts tugging on the gauzy shirt that makes up the entirety of Bo's wardrobe. It's observably a simply practical move on Luke's part – once he gets his hands under the low hem, he uses the flat of his palms, sliding up Bo's stomach and chest to lift the shirt up. Waits patiently for Bo to raise his arms before pulling the shirt over his head, then by chance brushes their chests together in the process of shoving it up and off of his long arms.

Luke shushes a noise Bo never actually makes (at least he never quite hears himself make it) because they have to stay dead until they can solve the crime they never committed. The whole town is currently being sent back to the house by Jesse; that much Bo _can_ hear. Luke's got ahold of Bo's jeans, holding them low for Bo's feet and providing Bo with a view down the gap between Luke's jeans and his waist. It's a wonder he stands up through the process of resting one hand on Luke's shoulder while stepping into his jeans. Certainly the upper part of his body is completely devoid of blood.

He slaps Luke's hands away before they can inadvertently cop a feel (or maybe catch a sensitive part of Bo in the zipper) and takes care of his own fly. By the time he's done with that intricate little job, Luke's got his arms in the sleeves of that blue shirt, and it sounds like there are getting to be fewer and fewer townspeople out there on the other side of the door. Bo reckons he'd better help his cousin with the buttons on that shirt. He takes hold of the collar, flips it out and straightens it before straightening it across Luke's shoulders. It's a challenge to button it with the way Luke won't stay still, but that's all right. It gives his fingers a few extra seconds to explore the short hairs on Luke's chest, and watch how the muscles tighten individually with each little touch. Doesn't bother to start buttoning until he's about halfway down the shirt.

Just as he's getting close enough to the tails to consider the job done, he feels Luke nudging his arms up again. Loses sight of his cousin when that blue t-shirt gets pulled over his head, but the first thing he sees when the shirt gets down over his head is Luke's smirking face as he tugs it down then smoothes it over Bo's chest. There's a wink followed by Luke's helpful fingers shoving the shirt under the waist of Bo's jeans. Well, two can play at that game. Conveniently, the tails on Luke's shirt are long and require some deep tucking. Just about the time Bo finds the warmest part of Luke's backside there's a grunt in his ear. They have to stay dead, so he pulls his hands back and fits his lips over Luke's. Holds there for a second until Luke's hands also come out of dangerous territory. In a second the kiss is broken by Luke pulling Bo's yellow shirt onto his right arm.

Bo grabs the shirt out of Luke's hand to pull it on himself. By now all he can hear out there are Daisy, Jesse and Cooter. Luke sorts out their boots and they step into them. Bo's still straightening out his top shirt when he leans forward and kisses Luke one more time. Gentle little thing, apologizing for what's coming next. As soon as their lips are apart, Bo opens the door and shoves Luke out, stumbling along behind him.

As much fun as the last few minutes have been, Bo's favorite part comes in the way Luke's usually facile brain stumbles:

"Y-You see, the story goes like this, uh…"


End file.
